William Drayton was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician, banker, and author from Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

. He was the son of Federal Judge William Drayton, Sr.

William Drayton, Sr.

William Drayton was an American lawyer and jurist from South Carolina.Born in Ashley River, South Carolina, Drayton was educated in the Middle Temple, in London, England in 1754. He read law to enter the South Carolina Bar in 1756, and was thereafter a Justice of the peace for Berkeley County,...

 of South Carolina.

He represented South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

's first district in the U.S. Congress

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from 1825 to 1833. He was a unionist during the nullification

Nullification (U.S. Constitution)

Nullification is a legal theory that a State has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional...

 controversy and in 1833 moved to Philadelphia, where he published a pro-slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 tract and served as president of the Bank of the United States

Second Bank of the United States

The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...

. He was the father of Percival Drayton

Percival Drayton

Percival Drayton was a United States Navy officer during the American Civil War.-Biography:Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Drayton was the son of a prominent lawyer William Drayton who eventually relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

 and Thomas Fenwick Drayton

Thomas Drayton

Thomas Fenwick Drayton was a plantation owner, politician, railroad president, and military officer, serving in the United States Army and then as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:Drayton was a native of South Carolina, most...

, who fought on opposite sides during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. His first cousin was William Henry Drayton

William Henry Drayton

Other notable men have similar names, see: William Drayton .William Henry Drayton was an American planter and lawyer from Charleston, South Carolina...

.

He bought Drayton Island

Drayton Island

Drayton Island is a privately owned heavily wooded island at the northern end of Lake George on the west side of the Saint Johns River's main channel in Putnam County, Florida, United States....

, a plantation, in Florida. Author Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...

 dedicated his collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is a collection of previously published short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1840.-Publication:It was published by the Philadelphia firm Lea & Blanchard and released in two volumes...

(1840) to him. Drayton authored The South Vindicated from the Treason and Fanaticism of the Abolitionists in 1836.

External links

• biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website
• The Drayton Family Papers, including correspondence from 1783–1896, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a historical society founded in 1824 and based in Philadelphia. The Society's building, designed by Addison Hutton and listed on Philadelphia's Register of Historical Places, houses some 600,000 printed items and over 19 million manuscript and graphic items...
  
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